The transfer window is closed and Newcastle United can at least get on with their jobs for the rest of the year knowing what they have to work with, but there could be a few awkward moments up and down the country.

Some players have been stranded at clubs who do not want them, while other managers are stuck with players they know were desperate to get away.

In the case of the Magpies, we know they tried to sell Dwight Gayle, Jack Colback, Jesus Gamez, Henri Saivet and Massadio Haidara, but weren’t able to.

Newcastle United players in their pre-season training in Ireland (Image: Newcastle United)

All of them have been named in Newcastle’s 25-man Premier League squad so it will be interesting to see Rafa Benitez’s attitude towards them – will they be welcomed back into the fold, or will he try to make their life uncomfortable so they feel they have to go in January?

I was in that second boat at the end of my Everton career, and if any of those Newcastle players find themselves in that position I would urge them to be as professional as possible no matter how they are treated.

In 2000 I was Everton captain but I was one of the lowest paid players in the squad and I wasn’t willing to sign a new contract. They’d signed John Collins, Marco Materazzi, Olivier Dacourt and Kevin Campbell – huge players who’d come from abroad to earn millions per year, whereas I’d joined from Sheffield United.

We’d had discussions over a new contract but it was nowhere near what I was looking for, and I was pretty stubborn and said I wouldn’t sign it. I had a massive argument with Walter Smith, Everton’s manager.

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For three or four months that was me in the doghouse, coming in at one o’clock every day to train on my own because I wasn’t allowed to work with the first team. It was before the days of the transfer window so I could have moved on there and then but I stayed and didn’t play for the best part of two months. I still maintain it was scandalous management by Walter.

As it turned out, the squad picked up some injuries and Walter needed me for the final month or so of the season, but by then the bridges were well and truly burnt and in the summer I left to join Sunderland.

During my time in exile I would pass the Everton first-teamers on their way out as I was on my way in. The training ground can be a pretty lonely place when you’re in that position.

It’s not nice when you’re driving into the car park just as your mates as driving out. I would see the kitman laying my kit out as he was throwing everyone else’s into the skip.

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It’s hard to motivate yourself and stay professional in those circumstances, but you have to. I would go for a 45-minute run, then do some sprints, but you’re not touching the ball very often because there’s no one to play with, so inevitably you lose a bit of fitness.

I was pretty resigned to the fact that injuries were my only route back into the team but I’m glad I stuck at it because that’s exactly what happened.

I wanted to make sure I respected the manager’s decision even if I didn’t agree with it. I promised myself I wouldn’t cause him any problems whatsoever and made sure I didn’t incur any fines for my behaviour. That’s all I could do, and that’s the advice I would give any Newcastle player who finds himself out in the cold.

You just never know when the manager is going to come calling so they’ve got to make sure they’re in the best possible shape for themselves and the team.

Aleksandar Mitrovic has already picked up a suspension, so Gayle’s route back into the first XI is not that cluttered, and Rafa’s inability to sign the left-back he wanted means he could yet need Colback to fill in there.

But even if they don’t get a sniff between now and Christmas, they still have to be mindful that word quickly gets around in football. Rafa will make phone calls to other managers and say the player is not part of his plans but if he’s acting like a great professional, he will tell them that. Likewise, if anyone mopes around other managers will soon find out and it might put them off making a move in January.

As for Rafa, he let a few players go and didn’t get too many in so he won’t be happy with his club’s summer transfer dealing but at least he knows what he has to work for the rest of the year.

He’s had his game of poker with the chairman but now it’s time to go back to being a coach and a manager. He has to stop moaning and start making the players he has got better.